Legal Secretary

Job title

Secretary

Department

Legal Services

Our Purpose

To forge long-term relationships that have a positive impact on our people, our clients, our business partners, and our community.

Our Commitment to Our People

We do not think there is a magic formula to the Higgs culture. The key is to listen to and respect our people. If we take care of our people and our people take care of our clients, then everything we want as a firm will take care of itself. We are friendly and open to new ideas.

Our Core Values

Higgs core values are “CLEAR” – Care, Legacy, Excellence, Authenticity, Relationships

Role Purpose

Our Secretaries work collectively as a centralised resource within the Legal Services Department.  The team provide a comprehensive level of support to our lawyers across all departments.  We aspire to deliver technically superior service.  We will ensure that our people have the knowledge and skills to achieve at the highest level.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure that dictation queues are checked regularly throughout the day, picking up tasks across departments in order of priority
• Liaise with our Office Assistants to delegate administrative tasks, tracking progress through to completion
• Deal promptly with any finance requests such as billing, TT’s in/out and any other queries that may arise
• E-filing, hard copy filing and file maintenance
• Typing letters, emails and file notes as dictated by our fee earners
• Document production, amending and creating documents from our standard templates in line with our standards experienced with track changes and create comparison documents
• Preparing bundles
• Liaise with the PA team as and when required
• Support fee earners with file opening process
• Arrange or, where not appropriate, conduct photocopying, printing, or scanning so relevant documents are collated and distributed in a timely manner
• Liaise with other Secretaries to share tasks and discuss deadlines
• Manage queries, responding as appropriate and/or ensuring that all messages are communicated and responded to

Person Specification

The Secretary has responsibility to ensure they are familiar with the Firm’s departments, key people, clients, internal systems and procedures. Any training requirements should be discussed with the Head of Legal Services.

In addition, our Secretaries are expected to demonstrate:

• Excellent telephone manner and communication skills
• Exceptional organisational skills with an eye for detail
• Team orientated personality with the ability to work independently and with others
• Flexibility and dependability
• Ability to take the initiative and demonstrate proactivity
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines
• Conscientious, approachable and enthusiastic
• Have a positive approach to daily tasks
• Ability to embrace change and do so in a positive and energetic way

Technical Knowledge

• Accurate typing speed of at least 60 words per minute
• Excellent IT skills, proficient in Microsoft Office 365, AdobePro and Excel